The neon sign flickered on when the doughnuts were ready, and passersby would flock to the promise the electric words made. The doughnut shop, though, wanted more customers than just what their sign drew in. It wanted its message of hot doughnuts appearing on the cell...

Let’s sum up: the world is getting warmer, our state is getting drier, energy costs are rising, and natural resources are diminishing. And yet, dire as all this is, there’s an environmentally-friendly silver lining emerging. A surge in startups dedicated to solving,...